KAORI YOKOCHI
Projetos de Pesquisa
Unidades Organizacionais
SCGINEC-62, Hospital Universitário
5 resultados
Resultados de Busca
Agora exibindo 1 - 5 de 5
- B lymphocytes can be activated to act as antigen presenting cells to promote anti-tumor responses(2018) ROSSETTI, Renata Ariza Marques; LORENZI, Noely Paula Cristina; YOKOCHI, Kaori; ROSA, Maria Beatriz Sartor de Faria; BENEVIDES, Luciana; MARGARIDO, Paulo Francisco Ramos; BARACAT, Edmund Chada; CARVALHO, Jesus Paula; VILLA, Luisa Lina; LEPIQUE, Ana PaulaImmune evasion by tumors includes several different mechanisms, including the inefficiency of antigen presenting cells (APCs) to trigger anti-tumor T cell responses. B lymphocytes may display a pro-tumoral role but can also be modulated to function as antigen presenting cells to T lymphocytes, capable of triggering anti-cancer immune responses. While dendritic cells, DCs, are the best APC population to activate naive T cells, DCs or their precursors, monocytes, are frequently modulated by tumors, displaying a tolerogenic phenotype in cancer patients. In patients with cervical cancer, we observed that monocyte derived DCs are tolerogenic, inhibiting allogeneic T cell activation compared to the same population obtained from patients with precursor lesions or cervicitis. In this work, we show that B lymphocytes from cervical cancer patients respond to treatment with sCD40L and IL-4 by increasing the CD80(+)CD86(+) population, therefore potentially increasing their ability to activate T cells. To test if B lymphocytes could actually trigger anti-tumor T cell responses, we designed an experimental model where we harvested T and B lymphocytes, or dendritic cells, from tumor bearing donors, and after APC stimulation, transplanted them, together with T cells into RAG1(-/-) recipients, previously injected with tumor cells. We were able to show that anti-CD40 activated B lymphocytes could trigger secondary T cell responses, dependent on MHC-II expression. Moreover, we showed that dendritic cells were resistant to the anti-CD40 treatment and unable to stimulate anti-tumor responses. In summary, our results suggest that B lymphocytes may be used as a tool for immunotherapy against cancer.
- Lactate secreted by cervical cancer cells modulates macrophage phenotype(2019) STONE, Simone Cardozo; ROSSETTI, Renata Ariza Marques; ALVAREZ, Karla Lucia Fernandez; CARVALHO, Jesus Paula; MARGARIDO, Paulo Francisco Ramos; BARACAT, Edmund Chada; TACLA, Maricy; BOCCARDO, Enrique; YOKOCHI, Kaori; LORENZI, Noely Paula; LEPIQUE, Ana PaulaCervical cancer continues to be a public health problem in developing countries. Previous studies have shown that cervical cancer cells display markers of aerobic glycolysis, indicating that these tumors are likely to secrete lactate. Mostly, lactate is recognized as a molecule capable of suppressing immune responses, through inhibition of T cells, M phi s, and dendritic cells. We and others have previously shown that M phi s are frequent cells infiltrating cervical cancers with the ability to inhibit antitumor immune responses and promote tumor growth through angiogenesis. Here, we have tested the hypothesis that lactate, secreted by cervical cancer cells, can modulate M phi phenotype. First, we showed higher lactate plasma concentrations in patients with increasing cervical lesion grades, with maximum concentration in the plasma of cancer patients, which supported our hypothesis. We then inhibited lactate production in tumor cell spheroids established from cervical cancer derived cell lines, using the lactate dehydrogenase inhibitor, oxamate, prior to co-culture with monocytes. Lactate mediated part of the crosstalk between tumor cells and M phi s, promoting secretion of IL-1, IL-10, IL-6, and up-regulation of hypoxia induced factor-1 expression, and down-regulation of p65-NFB phosphorylation in M phi s. We also showed that M phi s from co-cultures treated with oxamate were better inducers of T cell activation. Of note, experiments performed with inhibition of the monocarboxylate transporters rendered similar results. Our data confirms the hypothesis that lactate, secreted by cervical tumor cells, influences the phenotype of tumor M phi s, promoting a suppressive phenotype.
- A New Brazilian Device for Cervical Cancer Screening: Acceptability and Accuracy of Self-sampling(2023) LICHTENFELS, Martina; LORENZI, Noely Paula Cristina; TACLA, Maricy; YOKOCHI, Kaori; FRUSTOCKL, Flavia; SILVA, Camila Alves; SILVA, Andre Luiz da; TERMINI, Lara; FARIAS, Caroline BrunettoObjective To evaluate the accuracy and patient acceptability toward self-sampling using a new device - SelfCervix (R) - for detecting HPV-DNA.Methods A total of 73 women aged 25-65 who underwent regular cervical cancer screening from March to October 2016 were included. Women performed self-sampling followed by a physician-sampling, and the samples were analyzed for HPV-DNA. After that, patients were surveyed about their acceptability of self-sampling.Results HPV-DNA detection rate of self-sampling presented high accuracy and was similar to physician-collection. Sixty-four (87.7%) patients answered the acceptability survey. Most patients (89%) considered the self-sampling comfortable, and 82.5% preferred self-sampling to physician-sampling. The reasons cited were time-saving and convenience. Fifty-one (79.7%) reported that they would recommend self-sampling.Conclusion Self-sampling using the new Brazilian device SelfCervix (R) is not inferior in HPV-DNA detection rate compared with physician-collection, and patients are supportive of the method. Therefore, it might be an option to reach under-screened populations in Brazil.
- Local and Systemic STAT3 and p65 NF-KappaB Expression as Progression Markers and Functional Targets for Patients With Cervical Cancer(2020) ROSSETTI, Renata A. M.; SILVA-JUNIOR, Ildefonso A. da; RODRIGUEZ, Gretel R; ALVAREZ, Karla L. F.; STONE, Simone C.; CIPELLI, Marcella; SILVEIRA, Caio R. F.; BELDI, Mariana Carmezim; MOTA, Giana R.; MARGARIDO, Paulo F. R.; BARACAT, Edmund C.; UNO, Miyuki; VILLA, Luisa L.; CARVALHO, Jesus P.; YOKOCHI, Kaori; ROSA, Maria Beatriz S. F.; LORENZI, Noely P.; LEPIQUE, Ana PaulaCervical cancer, which main etiologic factor is Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection, continues to be a burden for public health systems in developing countries. Our laboratory has been working with the hypothesis that signals generated in the tumor microenvironment can modulate local and systemic immune responses. In this context, it would be reasonable to think that tumors create pro-tumoral bias in immune cells, even before they are recruited to the tumor microenvironment. To understand if and how signaling started in the tumor microenvironment can influence cells within the tumor and systemically, we investigated the expression of key proteins in signaling pathways important for cell proliferation, viability, immune responses and tolerance. Besides, we used detection of specific phosphorylated residues, which are indicative of activation for Akt, CREB, p65 NF kappa B, and STAT3. Our findings included the observation of a significant STAT3 expression increase and p65 NF kappa B decrease in circulating leukocytes in correlation with lesion grade. In light of those observations, we started investigating the result of the inhibition of STAT3 in a tumor experimental model. STAT3 inhibition impaired tumor growth, increased anti-tumor T cell responses and decreased the accumulation of myeloid cells in the spleen. The concomitant inhibition of NF kappa B partially reversed these effects. This study indicates that STAT3 and NF kappa B are involved in immunomodulatory tumor effects and STAT3 inhibition could be considered as therapy for patients with cervical cancer.
bookPart Papanicolaou(2014) LORENZI, Noely Paula Cristina; YOKOCHI, Kaori